Earth Day is being observed today, April 22. It is a day which is intended to inspire an awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment. `Abdul-Baha, the Successor of Baha'u'llah and the Authorized Interpreter of His writings, hundred years ago had envisaged an interdependent, interconnected world—which no single member or part of it would find itself fully able, nor be readily appreciative and willing, to remain isolated and self-sufficient. However the undertakings may yet be shouldered in fragments and pieces and with not always even and fully resolved commitments on the part of all the participants of the societies and everywhere, it is becoming ever-increasingly apparent that we are proceeding in the direction of such destined realization and moving towards a world that is beginning to be unified--a unity of thought in the world undertakings which `Abdu'la-Baha envisaged and clearly alluded to in his writings and his many public addresses, in the early years of the 20th century. The Earth-Day is itself a manifestation of such movement, such potential unity, and a very important step on the progressive path towards the oneness of thoughts in the world’s great undertakings.
Baha'u'llah, the aniverssary of Whose historical Declaration of His Mission and the advent of His Revelation is being celebrated on these days by the worldwide Baha'i community, by the twleve-day Ridvan Festival—described by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, as "the holiest and most significant of all Baha'i festivals"--in His Writings which equal to more than hundred volumes, establishes and expounds a universal panorama with a matchless recognition and acknowledgement of the oneness of the humankind and the wholeness of the earth. Through Baha’u’llah’s teachings the nobility of each and every human being is fully recognized and appreciated, and the value of every existent being in the creation, every creature in the nature--however minor in proportion and whatever its magnitude in existence--is counted and treasured. This consciousness and genuine understanding and the wholehearted commitment to the preservation of each one’s dignity and rightful value, and the development of their best interests which naturally and responsibly follows such perception, and the recognition of such profound principle and view, is the gift of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah to the world. Nature, Baha'u'llah has written, is "the expression of God's will", and "the signs and tokens" of God's names and attributes.
“Whatever I behold I readily discover that it maketh Thee known unto me and it remindeth me of Thy signs and of Thy tokens, and of Thy testimonies.” (Baha'u'llah, "Prayers and Meditations", p. 272)
I just posted two Passages from the Baha’i Writings related to the theme in my other blog below. Welcome to visit:
Learning Felicity
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